Government School Adoption Program
CARE Foundation is the pioneer of a Government School Adoption Program in Pakistan.
The partnership began in 1998 when the Metropolitan Corporation of Lahore offered CARE to adopt the failed government-run schools. The schools were in a terrible condition, but CARE accepted this huge challenge, despite its limited resources. Ten failed government schools were adopted as a pilot project. CARE transformed these schools by providing trained staff and missing facilities including furniture, science laboratories, libraries, computer labs and additional classrooms, as well as clean drinking water. The changes in academic infrastructure and teaching methodology have increased the enrolment rate in these schools by 500 percent. Today, CARE is educating thousands of children in over 888 schools adopted from the government. It has proven to be a highly cost effective and scalable model, utilising the existing infrastructure. The model can be replicated in as many schools across Pakistan as resources permit.
As Pakistan’s economic crisis escalates, we urge you not to forget the children of Pakistan. Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children with an estimated 22.8 million aged 5-16 not attending school. CARE Foundation aims to enrol one million children in schools by 2025.
Enrollment Increase
Schools
Purpose built school
Expanding CARE
With our ambition to raise educational standards across the entire country, the CARE Foundation has expanded over the years.
From building schools to training centres, our network covers a substantial area across cities and provinces. We aim to grow even more to help children prosper, with the right educational resources.
CARE Owned Schools
Chamra Mandi School
CARE adopted Government Boys High School Chamra Mandi. It’s a sprawling, three-storey, meticulously kept, red brick campus located close to Lahore’s Old City. Prior to being taken over by CARE Foundation, the Govt. Boys High School, Chamra Mandi, once stood in an abysmal state. With broken windows, rickety desks and chairs, zero sanitation and littered with garbage, the ramshackle structure was in a pitiable condition. Apart from the overall state of the institution, the school had only one teacher and zero students. However, once adopted by CARE thirteen years ago, in 2006, the campus now has a student enrolment of 2,000 children from Nursery till Grade 10. CARE took over the running of the school, it was decided to demolish the old structure and start afresh. Soon enough, in its place, a brand new building was established, with a large courtyard and 30 spacious classrooms.
Since its inception in 1988, CARE has undertaken the challenging task of adopting existing government schools that not only require serious renovation vis-à-vis the infrastructure, but also a complete makeover in the overall school system; from the syllabus to teacher training. For almost three decades, the non-profit has adopted a strategy that expands and upgrades government schools, promotes access to higher, more creative learning opportunities (such as scholarships and language programs, to name a few), including the development of engaging curriculums and regular teacher trainings to instill effective pedagogy that encourages academic achievement. The gaps in the public school systems are filled in by CARE and in a short span of time, the schools undergoes a very tangible transformation. Since the beginning, CARE has sought to bridge the class divide between students enrolled in private quality institutions and students in public institutions, by creating a network of schools equal in standing to leading private schools.
The school before it was taken over by CARE
The foundation’s commitment to education and success in expanding its network to remote and underprivileged areas has also helped raise awareness about the benefits of education. Parents who weren’t keen on enrolling their children in debilitated government schools are now eager to enroll children in CARE schools. In a majority of cases where CARE has adopted run-down governmental schools, enrollment rates have increased by over 300 percent.
In a country where approximately 22 million Pakistani children remain out of school, illiteracy stands as the greatest barrier to the country’s progress. Yet, amidst pressing challenges, CARE wholeheartedly takes public schools with marginalized children under its wing, in order to pave the way for better, more promising opportunities for the generations to come.
As Pakistan’s economic crisis escalates, we urge you not to forget the children of Pakistan. Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children with an estimated 22.8 million aged 5-16 not attending school. CARE Foundation aims to enrol one million children in schools by 2025.